Vancouver Law Librarian Blog: December 2009

Quickscribe Manual Updates for December '09

Two Quickscribe manuals were updated in December:

And as always, daily updates to British Columbia statutes and regulations are available at BCLegislation.ca.

Labels: BC Legislation Manuals, Quickscribe

A Local Law Hero

Here's an inspiring story, and it even stars a local member of the Vancouver legal community. Dye & Durham's Jason Greensill performed CPR on a 5 week old baby yesterday afternoon & saved the baby's life!

The story ran last night on Global TV, and for the time being, is accessible on the Stations video archives.

Clawbies 2009 Nominations Roundup

With more than two dozen blogged and tweeted nominations posted and a homepage facelift, the 2009 Canadian Law Blog Awards (a.k.a. the Clawbies) are off to a great start.

Similar to a post I put up last year, here's a running roundup of the nominations:

Twitter Nominations

Added Dec 22:

Added Dec 27:

Gary Wise - 2009 Canada Blawg Awards

A big thanks to all those who have participated. If more nominations come in, we'll add them ... until Monday, December 28th anyway.

Clawbies and Community

The holiday season & the Clawbies are tied together for me. And I'm not entirely sure I've tapped into all the reasons.

I've always found it remarkable, generally speaking, how attitudes change during December. How we reconnect with family and friends, reflect on our lives, events, and start planning out steps for the new year.

For bloggers, this same introspective period occurs as well. Lots of 'year in review' pieces, 'top-10 for 2009' lists, and so on. It's the same reflective spirit that inspired the start of the Clawbies in '06, and I suspect, why so many Canadian law bloggers have been willing to go 'off topic' and chime in on the nominations.

Not to go too far off topic, but blogging often makes it (too) easy to get caught up in a solitary approach. Grab a piece from the daily news, cite it in a quick post, and call it a day. Maybe it's the twitterization of blogging, I'm not entirely sure. What this style lacks, however, is the human exchanges that make blogging different. Differing perspectives, spontaneous thoughts, or tapping into the ideas of a like-minded individual half-way across the country (or world). The good stuff, IMO, often requires community.

In Canada, law bloggers aren't a huge group. A couple hundred at best. But through my rose coloured glasses, I see the Clawbies tying things a little closer. It's incredible, frankly, to see those nominations fly around. It's not about the blogger or their personal accomplishments, but rather, 'about the other guy'. Sometimes a competitor, but always as a peer. And the answers to some very simple questions can become incredibly valuable: who do you read? and why does it matter to you?

That this all happens in December, doesn't entirely surprise. But if it inspires participation, then I'm all for it. Plus, it's fun.

If you'd like to track this year's nomination posts, most of them are piping through Twitter, and can be found by searching for #clawbies2009.

Cheers,
Steve

Welcome to the KF Modified Blog

Some fun & eclectic news! The Canadian legal blogosphere now has a KF Modified blog, thanks to Osgoode law librarian Tim Knight.

The following description is quoted directly from his inaugural post:

"This blog will discuss the history, usage, updates and future directions of KF Modified the legal classification scheme which is used primarily in Canadian law libraries and suitable for any common law collection. Legal classification and cataloguing in general will also be touched on from time to time."

Destined for a huge readership? Probably not. However, it never ceases to amaze me how even the most niche blog can find an audience. Or how the most focused topic groups can rally around a new source of commentary. It really is the beauty of blogging.

So welcome Tim! And especially to his fellow legal cataloguers, be sure to lend him your ear; right after you check out this Yahoo Pipe of cataloguing blogs. :)

Interview with Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin

An item noted by Simon Chester over on Slaw.ca, SCC Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin was interviewed on TVO's The Agenda last night. I don't know whether it was broadcast within in the BC market, but it is available on the TVO website, and embedded below: